XGEN: GUI Hotfix Utility Switches /x /m /s /z

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Summary

You can unpackage prepackaged hotfixes to test, e-mail, or manually install them. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) Hotfix utility that is used to package hotfixes contains the following undocumented switches (GUI Hotfix utility hotfixes are usually packaged as Qxxxxxx.exe files, where xxxxxx is the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q number for the corresponding hotfix):

/x Generates a list of the packaged files. You can select the files that you want to extract and the location.

/s Performs a silent installation. This switch stops services and installs the hotfix with no prompts or user interface (UI). You need to allow sufficient time for the hotfix to be installed, because this switch returns control to the command prompt well before the installation is finished. Verify that the hotfix is installed. The GUI Hotfix package Qxxxxxx.exe should be running in the task manager properties, where xxxxxx is the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q number and name of the hotfix.

/z The same as the /x switch, but the /z switch automatically restarts the computer. Do not use the /z switch unless you want to automatically restart the computer.

/m Prompts you for the folder locations. You can select the folder locations of the Windows folder, System folder, System32 folder, Temp folder, Source folder (which is usually the Temp folder), System Windows folder, and Language folder.

More information

The following list contains more information about the GUI Hotfix utility switches that are listed in the "Summary" section of this article:

All hotfixes are listed in the following registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\product\Qxxxxxx

where product is the name of the product that the hotfix is for, and xxxxxx is the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q number of the hotfix.

For Exchange Server, two log files are generated in the Exchsrvr\Qxxxxxx folder. The Install.log file indicates if files were copied, skipped, and so on. The Qxxxxxx.log file contains more information, which includes who installed the hotfix, when the hotfix was installed, and so on.

For Exchange Server, you can uninstall some packages. The dialog boxes in the installer setup process state whether or not you can uninstall a fix. When Exchange Server backup is possible, the files are backed up to the following location:

Exchsrvr\Qxxxxxx

Registry keys that are overwritten are not backed up.

There is no /? switch or other help documentation included with the fixes.

Apply hotfixes as a component whole. Microsoft does not recommend the installation of individual files from a component build.

More information about the /x and /z switches: these switches can be useful if the files have been deleted or are corrupted on the target computer. If you type a folder name after the /x switch, the switch extracts all of the files to the selected folder. The /z switch performs the same function that the /x switch performs, but the computer quits Microsoft Windows after the files are extracted.

The /s switch runs the installation in silent mode. The background gradient is not displayed, and the progress bar is not displayed. Other than a prompt to restart the computer, any messages or prompts that the installation uses are not displayed.

Both Alpha and Intel binaries may be displayed in a package if you expand them by using the /x switch. This should only be the case for the Administrator component, where both Alpha and Intel binaries are included by design. I386 and Alpha files go to every Administrator computer regardless of the platform because there may be Exchange Server computers running on either platform in the site.

Each component build has a master Microsoft Knowledge Base article that is associated with that component build and that lists all of the other Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for fixes of that component. This master Microsoft Knowledge Base article is updated with each new build of the component. The following is a list of the master Microsoft Knowledge Base articles: